What do Man City and Liverpool fans have to look forward to now the Premier League is over? Well, plenty actually

Now that the Premier League season is over, what do we do now? How can we fill the enormous chasm in our lives that was once brimming with images of Pep Guardiola’s baggy Oxfam-chic cardigan, Jürgen Klopp’s flawless white teeth, Mauricio Pochettino’s hi-res-Minecraft head and Nuno Espirito Santo’s spectacular shaman beard?

Of course there may be other abiding images of the season that come to mind – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Mormon-on-the-doorstep half-smile, for instance – but the former group are the ones I will look back to during the harsh heat of summer.

It has been a wonderful season of petro-dollar and hedge-fund fuelled footballing entertainment, we must admit. But there is no need to feel blue now that there are 89 days until the whole thing starts again (or 88 if the bigwigs deign to invade the first Friday night of the season again). Because there is much to placate our needy souls.

More football!

Apart from anything else, the season hasn’t even finished for those lucky supporters of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Tottenham, who all have the joy of a plane ride that costs slightly less than an entire Learjet (or three days on a coach), a £500-a-night sweaty hostel bunk and a match ticket for the price of a reliable car, all for the privilege of seeing their sides in a European final.

Similarly there are still 11 Football League teams involved in play-off action, with the battle in the Championship for untold riches (and most importantly, a hot meal at half-time for the media) in the top flight delicately poised.

Then there is the FA Cup final – which amid all the hubbub of the Champions League and the Premier League finale, has been all but forgotten about. It is between Manchester City and Watford, in case you were wondering.

Even more football!

But for fans of the other 75 teams in the full-time pyramid, not to mention the legions of supporters who follow sides in the lower reaches of the game, there is still much to look forward to.

For a start, it is only 25 days until the start of the Women’s World Cup. Which means there is less than four weeks to get your jibes about “it is not as good as the men’s game” and “the goalkeeping is rubbish” out of the way.

Those two statements, if you will allow us to mansplain, are rubbish, by the way. The fallacy of the first one can be illustrated with a two-pronged effort: anything Karen Carney does for club or country and Denmark 0-0 France in the group stage of last year’s men’s World Cup.

As for the latter statement… David de Gea.

And other sports too!

Outside of football, we have Wimbledon, the Tour de France, the netball World Cup, the swimming World Championships, all manner of athletics events and, erm, Metallica at Twickenham to tide us over until the Premier League jamboree starts again. And if that is not enough to placate your empty heart, worry not: the fixtures come out in just 31 days.